Dr. Michael Campion

Dr. Michael Campion is a licensed clinical psychologist who taught at the College of Medicine at the University of Illinois for 18 years, and is sought after for research projects by the U.S. Department of Justice. He is also a Christian, pro-family, and politically conservative — a problem for the city of Minneapolis.

In 2005, the city hired him as an independent contractor, and Dr. Campion enjoyed a successful professional relationship with the city, providing pre-employment testing, fitness for duty testing, and other services. But when an Illinois Times author wrote an article criticizing Campion’s affiliation with the pro-family organization the Illinois Family Institute, the city suspended him. Then, they hired a psychological testing company to evaluate Dr. Campion and see if his process for reviewing applicants for employment with the city was inherently flawed or biased.

After months of investigation, the testing company submitted its conclusions to the city. Not only did they find no evidence of bias, they found Dr. Campion’s work to be beyond expectations for good psychological practice, adding that Campion is “clearly an expert in this line of work.”

Despite those findings, the city fired Dr. Campion anyway. Then, using taxpayer money, they hired a significantly more expensive and less qualified consulting company.

Attorneys with the Alliance Defending Freedom filed a lawsuit on behalf of Dr. Campion against the city for discriminating against his religious and political views. The city settled out of court, and paid Dr. Campion $210,000 in damages.